Romeo and Juliet

About the book

Verona's public life is disturbed by a feud between the Montagues and Capulets, a rivalry that younger members inherit as readily as their family names. When Romeo and Juliet meet, their attraction opens a private possibility within that hostile world. Shakespeare gives their developing language of love an intensity that contrasts with street wit, parental arrangements, and the urgency of defending honour. Friends and advisers try to help, but assistance itself can become caught in the pressures of secrecy and haste. The play moves quickly between comic energy and danger, making timing as important as intention. Its tragedy asks how a relationship might survive when social identity is treated as a fixed obligation and almost every practical decision must be made too soon.

• Love and family
• Inherited conflict
• Haste and consequence

Why read it

For the astonishing range of language surrounding a love story compressed into a few urgent days.

English text